Determinants of vigilance behavior in the ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua): the importance of within-group spatial position

Individuals living in social groups are predicted to live under unequal predation risk due to their spatial location within the group. Previous work has indicated that individuals located at the edge of groups have higher “domains of danger”, thus are more likely to engage in vigilance or antipredator behavior. We studied the determinants of vigilance behavior in two groups of ring-tailed coatis in Iguazu National Park, Argentina. In addition to the expected pattern that coatis were more vigilant at the edge of the group, we found that individuals were particularly vigilant at the front edge of the group. This pattern conforms to predictions of differing predation risk caused by sit-and-wait predators with respect to mobile animal groups. In addition, coatis exhibited less vigilance when the number of neighbors within 5 m and group size increased. Of the three spatial variables tested, within-group spatial position was the most important predictor variable determining vigilance levels. These results confirm that spatial position has major effects on vigilance behavior, and that group directionality is an important factor which should be taken into account when measuring vigilance behavior. Coatis were more vigilant when juveniles less than 6 months old were in the groups. The presence of these young juveniles also affected the relationship between alarm response and vigilance levels. Coatis were more vigilant after strong alarm reactions, but only when young juveniles were not present in the groups. This may indicate that coatis give differential responses to alarm calls depending on the age of the caller. A comparison of antipredator vigilance between coatis and sympatric capuchin monkeys is consistent with the hypothesis that terrestriality leads to higher perceive predation risk for coatis.     

First-trimester diagnosis of hydrolethalus syndrome in a Chinese family

We report a case resembling hydrolethalus syndrome in a Chinese family. Fetal polydactyly, syndactyly, encephalocele and cardiac malformation were detected on ultrasound examination at 12 weeks' gestation. Termination of pregnancy was performed, and postmortem examination confirmed the findings. This is the first report of a first-trimester prenatal diagnosis of hydrolethalus syndrome in the Chinese population. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

金霉素在活性污泥上的吸附行为

通过批次实验考察了活性污泥对金霉素（chlortetracycline，CTC）的吸附特性，研究了包括吸附平衡时间、污泥浓度（MLSS）、温度以及pH值对吸附的影响。结果表明，CTC在活性污泥上的吸附是一个快速的过程，5 min可达到平衡吸附量的90%以上，6 h达到吸附平衡；CTC的总去除率随着MLSS浓度的增加而增大，而污泥单位吸附量却随之减少，当CTC初始浓度为500 μg/L，MLSS浓度从1 000 mg/L增至8 000 mg/L时，吸附平衡时CTC的总去除率从30.97%上升至60.42%，而污泥单位吸附量则从151 326.70 μg/kg下降至37 530.98 μg/kg；在10、20、30℃条件下，吸附较好地符合Freundlich等温吸附模型和线性分配吸附模型，K_d值依次为190.93、162.32和121.08 L/kg；热力学数据表明，CTC在污泥上的吸附为放热过程，低温有利于吸附的进行；当pH值介于3~11之间时，CTC在污泥上的吸附量随着pH值的增加而减少。     

Exploring Patterns of Seafood Provision Revealed in the Global Ocean Health Index

Sustainable provision of seafood from wild-capture fisheries and mariculture is a fundamental component of healthy marine ecosystems and a major component of the Ocean Health Index. Here we critically review the food provision model of the Ocean Health Index, and explore the implications of knowledge gaps, scale of analysis, choice of reference points, measures of sustainability, and quality of input data. Global patterns for fisheries are positively related to human development and latitude, whereas patterns for mariculture are most closely associated with economic importance of seafood. Sensitivity analyses show that scores are robust to several model assumptions, but highly sensitive to choice of reference points and, for fisheries, extent of time series available to estimate landings. We show how results for sustainable seafood may be interpreted and used, and we evaluate which modifications show the greatest potential for improvements.     

Degradation and detoxification of acid orange 52 by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas putida</Emphasis> mt-2: a laboratory study

Introduction  

Acid orange 52 (AO52), extensively used in textile industries, was decolorized by Pseudomonas putida mt-2. AO52 azoreduction products such as N,N′-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DMPD) and 4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid (4-ABS), were identified in the static degradation mixture. These amines were identified only in media of static incubation, which is consistent with their biotransformation under shaken incubation (aerobic conditions).